The present invention relates to a system and method for preparing, disseminating and tracking rich media, and in particular a method and apparatus for preparing, disseminating and tracking electronic mail and graphical presentation content.
Widespread use of personal computers, modems and data connections has allowed the growth of computer networks. The Internet serves as an example of a type of computer network, and indeed, is a large network of networks, all inter-connected, wherein the processing activity takes place in real time. The Internet offers mail, file transfer, remote log-in and other services. The World Wide Web (WWW) is the fastest growing part of the Internet. On the World Wide Web (WWW), a technology called hypertext allows Internet addressable resources to be connected, or linked, to one another. The advertising value of the Internet has been well recognized. For example, many websites on the Internet utilize xe2x80x9cbannerxe2x80x9d advertisements which allow a user to link directly to the advertiser""s website. Additionally, many websites include full-motion video components (also referred to as xe2x80x9crich mediaxe2x80x9d) created using FLASH(trademark) (Macromedia, Inc.) or related technologies (e.g., QuickTime (Apple Computer, Inc.), Shockwave (Macromedia, Inc.), Windows Media (Microsoft, Inc.), Real Player (Real Networks, Inc.), etc.).
E-mail has also been utilized as an advertising tool. Advertisers may send emails including textual advertising information, or even hyperlinks to websites which provide advertising information. Sometimes, advertisers will attach textual or visual information to a e-mail directed towards a certain consumer or group of consumers. However, due to the multitude of different e-mail programs on the market today, often times users cannot open or xe2x80x9cseexe2x80x9d the attachments which contain the advertising information. Thus, although an advertiser may have sent an advertisement e-mail to 100,000 users, it is possible that less than ten percent (10%), i.e., less than 10,000, users actually saw the advertisement.
Therefore, there is currently a need for a method and apparatus for disseminating advertising information through e-mails so that the information reaches all its intended recipients.
The present invention is a computer-implemented method for disseminating information, including the steps of: sending an electronic mail message to at least one recipient, said electronic mail being linked to a graphical presentation file, sensing the capabilities of the at least one recipient""s computer and, supplying only the elements of the graphical presentation file which may be viewed on the at least one recipient""s computer.
The above and other advantages and features of the present invention will be better understood from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the invention which is provided in connection with the accompanying drawings.